“The
Tump “ is one of Central
Warwickshire's longest running Folk Clubs. Currently based in
Coventry's Humber Hotel, it has previously operated in Coombe Social
Club, Binley, and in Brinklow,whence it gained its name. “The
Tump “ is actually the
remains of a Motte and Bailey fortification overlooking the village.
The mound is visible from several miles away, but is particularly
prominent when approaching Brinklow from Bretford along the long,
straight stretch of the Fosse way. I can tell you (because I've
climbed it), that the view from the top of The Tump, across
Warwickshire, is spectacular.
Another popular Brinklow Folk Venue
was “The Wurzel Bush,”
which was largely the baby of Dave Sampson. But people forget, when
reminiscing about live music in the past in Brinklow, the part that
Black Parrot Seaside has played in that tradition. For during the late 1970's we ran, “The
Bulls Head Folk Club” at
the Brinklow pub of the same name. Some famous Folk faces passed
through there whilst we were in charge.
As
a Rock Band, we'd experienced some moderate success and had gained a
lot of notoriety. We'd played as Support to East of Eden and The
Darts, been in BBC and Melody Maker competitions. We had played
Birmingham, Nottingham and Warwick Universities and several
polythechnics including The Lanch (now Coventry University). We had a
modest but genuinely crazy following in live music pubs, especially
where metal bands or Punk often featured. We were more a mental band
than a metal one, with influences ranging from Jethro Tull to HMK:
from Edgar Broughton to Alex Harvey. We were loud, aggressive and
sllightly edgy. Our audiences were (disturbingly) mostly younger than
we were!
There
was a style of parody and theatricality emerging in the electric
Black Parrot Seaside which continues through to this present day. But
one of our vocalists was missing,and we'd finally run out of drummers
and bassists. Augmented by fiddle player and accordionist Eddie
Jones, in 1977 we sold the P.A. , tower speakers, valve amps and all,
and returned to Folk.
It
was where several of us had begun. What little public performance I'd
done pre-Parrot was busking, occasional appearances in a London
Jugband, Amateur Dramatics, and running a Folk and Poetry Club
beneath the Old Cathedral in Coventry,circa 1967.
In
the Rock format,during the mid 1970's we'd included several acoustic
numbers in our set, and a few blues covers. “Dirty
Gertie” and “Vacuum
Cleaner,” we still play
today in 2014. “Blueland
Boy” and “Beside
The Seaside” may one day
return. So a Folk Club seemed a natural progression for us. Less
travel, less instrumentation, less physical hard work and our destiny
in our own hands.
We
did a few floor spots and then started the Bulls Head Folk Club. The
pub itself is still there but functions more as an eatery now. There
were five pubs and a Servicemen's Club in the Village and the BHFC
ran on Friday Nights, so competition was intense. It was held in a
side room, adjacent to (but separate from) the Bar. Access was from a
side alleyway and a corridor. It was an old, atmospheric pub, and
rumoured to be haunted. Our clientele was mostly Folkies, with a few
bemused locals straying in, attracted by the music and the draught
beer on hand-pulls.
We
were “The Residents” and so we just kicked off each half with a
few songs. Often we had a featured guest, but some nights we just
worked our way through Floor Singers who had turned up. There was an
interval, with a raffle, and we charged a nominal entrance fee which
we shared out with performers. “Playing For The door” it was
called. All very similar to many clubs still operating today. The
room was small and on a good night it could get very “cosy.”
Artistes were squashed into the Bay window looking out over the main
road. No P.A. All acoustic. Unplugged.
Apologies
to anyone left out here, or anyone included who we booked, but didn't
actually get to play there, and to anyone whose names I've forgotten
or got wrong. But it was
nearly forty years ago! Besides ourselves, other bands who played
there included Tattered Jack, Salmon Tails and the New Modern Idiot
Grunt Band. Jam sessions with impromptu bands made up on the spot,
were also a common feature.
We
had a young and talented duo there called Waterfall. This was Keith Donnelly
(with hair!) and Gilly Darby. Feature spots included Jane Smith and
Pete Smale, Andy Caven, Shep Wooley, Kevin Dempsey with Polly
Bolton, and Martin Jenkins. Regulars included Mick Stuart, Sean
Cannon, Pete Styche, Dave Bennett, Linda Dixon, Pete and Sheila Rigg,
Pete Willow, Malc Gurnham, Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong. The late
Bernard Overton lived opposite and would sometimes toddle over to
play an assortment of instruments. I can remember vividly too, a guy
called Maurice, who smoked a pipe and both played and sang.
As
the audience and guest list grew, so we also continued to develop or
revise our own material. Much of the electric set just would not
transpose. It was the end for big BPS productions like “Small
Maladjusted and Mean,” “ Sleep Town,” Brutus,”
and “Ordinary. ” A few songs did still work: our own
compositions, "Failure," “Vacuum Cleaner,”
“Blueland Boy” “Failure” and “Dirty
Gertie,” for example. We still play “ The Whistler,”
"Vacuum Cleaner" and “Gertie” occasionally today. The Old Girl had several
airings in 2013.
As for the Blues, the (very rude) Bo Carter
original “ All
Round Man” went, but Scrapper Blackwell's “In The Wee
Midnight Hour “ survived-and was finally recorded in the 4
piece Folk format in 2008.
We
kept writing those trademark parodies and protest songs, however. In came classics
such as “ P.C. Jumbo, “ “Norman the **** *******
Fieldmouse,” “Muck In The Cut” (a swipe at “Mull
of Kintyre”) and “ Crossroads” (Not a Clapton
cover, but an homage to The great ATV. Soap of the same name, and
its wobbling sets). We continued to dress up “live”-as in ripped
shirts and chains for the snarling satire on Punk “Boring!”
We still managed to do some (relatively) serious covers-Ewan
McColl's “30 Foot Trailer “ and “Shoals of Herring.”
Bob Dylan's “ Knocking on Heaven's Door” and Fairport's
“Sloth.”
Somebody must have liked something we
did, for we found that a record company boss was trailing us.
Specifically, (but not exclusively) at The Bulls Head. We'd also
spotted him at Coventry's Dog and Trumpet, and The Lanch. We thought he'd
been looking at someone else, but not so. Chris King, then of Zama
Records, it was. He had just secured a big EMI deal with for Zama Coventry
band The Flys. They featured Hazel's brother Neil O'Connor, and Davey
Freeman who much later would have a hand in co-writing No More I
Love You's. Later our ex-drummer Vance would join them, too.
Chris offered us a
publishing,recording and management deal. We were very sceptical
about this, but it soon became obvious that he was not only serious,
he actually “got” much of our material. After having had
all the paperwork checked by lawyers-we signed. A year or so later-it
was back to normal. We'd been reluctant to give up our jobs, and so
our commitment to touring must have been very disappointing for him.
It should be pointed out that even though we did record and release
our own stuff on vinyl, we made not a penny out of the venture. We
had a well reviewed single with Vacuum Cleaner and The Whistler as a
double A side. (Both would be re-recorded and added to a CD album in
2008). John Peel played the original Vacuum Cleaner on Radio One.
Chris and BPS eventually parted
company amicably. He left us, a wiser and poorer man, and we went
back to Folk Clubs. The Bull, meantime, had (with our blessing) been taken over by
someone else. On reflection, Chris I think had got us pencilled in as some kind of
Punk Wurzels. If only he'd have let us record “Boring” and
“Ordinary”-I still think we'd have been spat at more, and got on
Top Of The Pops.
The Brinklow tradition continues. We left music entirely for about 30 years-but were persuaded finally to reform and do a "one-off" Air Ambulance Fund raiser in 2006. The venue? Back in Brinklow. In one way or another, we've been back on the circuit ever since!
